For the first time in eight years, Nevada’s unemployment rate has fallen below 6 percent.
The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported March 22, Nevada’s unemployment rate in February decreased to a seasonally adjusted 5.9 percent.
However, that’s still a full percentage point above the national rate, which stood at 4.9 percent in January.
This is the smallest differential in eight years.
“I’m extremely encouraged by the labor market news this month,” said Gov. Brian Sandoval. “The unemployment rate fell below 6 percent for the first time since April 2008. The long-term jobless rate, for those without a job for at least a half-year, has tumbled from 7 percent, at the height of the recession, to less than 2 percent. The number of Nevadans unemployed because they involuntarily lost their jobs has tumbled from nearly 120,000 when the recession was at its worst, to less than 40,000 over the past year.”
In terms of employment growth, for the 62nd month in a row, employment in Nevada has increased on a year-over-year basis.
